Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) Shares Bought by Amundi

Amundi grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 171,056 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,200 shares during the period. Amundi’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $34,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Banco Santander S.A. lifted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 6,539 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,329,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,812 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $407,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $793,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 18,056 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,671,000 after acquiring an additional 2,212 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $23,044,000. 95.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Elie Melhem sold 4,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.53, for a total transaction of $925,700.41. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,204,038.57. The trade was a 29.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WTS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $240.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $218.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $197.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $220.00.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Down 0.1 %

WTS stock opened at $208.91 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.04, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 2.59. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $175.37 and a one year high of $232.60. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $209.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $206.55.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The technology company reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.14. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.93% and a return on equity of 18.08%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.79%.

About Watts Water Technologies

Watts Water Technologies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, supplies products and solutions that manage and conserve the flow of fluids and energy into, through, and out of buildings in the commercial, industrial, and residential markets in the Americas, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa.